Drawing Shapes in Photoshop CS6

Create a shape on a shape layer

Select a shape tool or a Pen tool. In Photoshop CC or CS6, make sure Shape is chosen from the menu in the options bar. In CS5, make sure that the Shape Layers button is selected.

To choose the color of the shape, click the color swatch
in the options bar, and then choose a color from the Color Picker.

(Optional) Set tool options in the options bar. Click
the inverted arrow next to the shape buttons to view additional
options for each tool. (See Shape
tool options .)

(Optional) To apply a style to the shape, select a preset style from the Style pop-up menu in the options bar. (See Apply preset styles.)

Drag
in your image to draw a shape:

To constrain a rectangle or rounded rectangle
to a square, to constrain an ellipse to a circle, or to constrain
the line angle to a multiple of 45 degrees, hold down Shift.

To draw from the center out, position the pointer where you want the center of the shape to be, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and then drag diagonally to any corner or edge until the shape is the desired size.

Drawing from the corner (left) and drawing from the center (right)

Note:

Drawing from the center out is the default behavior of the Star tool in Illustrator and the Polygon tool in Illustrator and Photoshop.

Draw a wheel shape

You cut out a shape within an existing shape
so that the layers underneath show through. This procedure shows
you how to create a doughnut shape, but you can use this technique
with any combination of the shape tools, including custom shapes.

Select the Ellipse tool in the toolbox. It may be hidden by one of the other shape tools or the Line tool .

In the options bar at the top of the work area, select
the Shape Layer button .

Drag in the document window to draw the shape. Hold down
the Shift key while dragging to constrain the ellipse to a circle.

In the options bar, select the Subtract From Shape Area button .

Drag within the new shape to create the cutout. When
you release the mouse, the image underneath the new shape shows
through.

To reposition either shape, click the Path Selection
tool in
the toolbox (it may be hidden by the Direct Selection tool ), and
select the path. Drag it to its new location or use the arrow keys
on the keyboard to nudge it a pixel at a time.

Draw a custom shape

You can draw custom shapes by using shapes
from the Custom Shape pop-up panel, or save a shape or path to use
as a custom shape.

Select the Custom Shape tool . (If the tool isn’t visible, hold down the Rectangle tool near the bottom of the toolbox.)

Select a shape from the Custom Shape
pop-up panel in the options bar.

If you don’t find a shape you want in the panel, click
the arrow in the upper right corner of the panel, and choose a different
category of shapes. When asked to replace current shapes, click
either Replace to view only the shapes in the new category or Append
to add to the shapes already displayed.

Create a rasterized shape

When
you create a rasterized shape, you’re drawing and rasterizing a
shape and filling it with the foreground color. You cannot edit
a rasterized shape as a vector object. Raster shapes are created
using the current foreground color.

Select a layer. You cannot create a rasterized
shape on a vector-based layer (for example, a type layer).

Select a shape tool, and click the Fill Pixels button in
the options bar.

Set the following options in the options bar:

Mode

Controls how the shape will affect the existing pixels in the image. (See Blending modes.)

Opacity

Determines to what degree the shape will obscure or reveal
the pixels beneath it. A shape with 1% opacity appears
nearly transparent, while one with 100% opacity appears completely
opaque.

Shape tool options

Each shape tool provides a unique subset of the options
below. To access these options, click the arrow to the right of
the row of shape buttons in the options bar.

Accessing shape tool options in the options bar (Line options
shown)

Arrowheads Start And End

Adds arrowheads to a line. Select the Line tool and then select Start to add an arrow to the beginning of the line; select End to add an arrow to the end of the line. Select both options to add arrows to both ends. The shape options appear in the pop-up dialog box. Enter values for Width and Length to specify the proportions of the arrowhead as a percentage of the line width (10% to 1000% for Width, and 10% to 5000% for Length). Enter a value for the concavity of the arrowhead (from –50% to +50%). The concavity value defines the amount of curvature on the widest part of the arrowhead, where the arrowhead meets the line.

Note:

You can also edit an arrowhead directly using the vector selection and drawing tools.

Circle

Constrains an ellipse to a circle.

Defined Proportions

Renders a custom shape based on the proportions with which
it was created.

Defined Size

Renders a custom shape based on the size at which it was
created.

Fixed Size

Renders a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, or custom
shape as a fixed shape based on the values you enter in the Width
and Height text boxes.

From Center

Renders a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, or custom
shape from the center.

Indent Sides By

Renders a polygon as a star. Enter a percentage in the text
box to specify the portion of the star’s radius taken up by the
points. A 50% setting creates points that are half the total radius
of the star; a larger value creates sharper, thinner points; a smaller
value creates fuller points.

Proportional

Renders a rectangle, rounded rectangle, or ellipse as a proportional
shape based on the values you enter in the Width and Height text
boxes.

Radius

For rounded rectangles, specifies the corner radius. For
polygons, specifies the distance from the center of a polygon to
the outer points.

Sides

Specifies the number of sides in a polygon.

Smooth Corners or Smooth Indents

Renders a polygon with smooth corners or indents.

Snap To Pixels

Snaps edges of a rectangle or rounded rectangle to the pixel boundaries.

Square

Constrains a rectangle or rounded rectangle to a square.

Unconstrained

Lets you set the width and height of a rectangle, rounded rectangle,
ellipse, or custom shape by dragging.

Edit shapes

A
shape is a fill layer linked to a vector mask. You can easily change
the fill to a different color, a gradient, or a pattern by editing
the shape’s fill layer. You can also edit the shape’s vector mask
to modify the shape outline, and apply a style to the layer.

To change the color of a shape, double-click
the shape layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel, and choose a different
color using the Color Picker.

To fill a shape with a pattern or gradient, select the
shape layer in the Layers panel and choose Layer > Layer
Style > Gradient Overlay.